Archive

12TH MAY 2016

Solar is in the headlines these days and many businesses wishing to cut down their electricity bills are getting quotations for the installation of solar systems at their premises. The market is very competitive and this sometimes encourages installers to make unsubstantiated claims about their products, especially payback times. If you receive an offer to install solar, we encourage you to contact TTEG for advice. We will conduct an analysis and give you an opinion on whether the offer is viable.

Please note that TTEG is an independant consultancy and we do not promote any particular installation company.

1ST MAY 2016

The Renewable Energy Target started in 2001 to encourage electricity generation from renewable sources.

The Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET)

cost has now grown to be a significant part of the bill, currently being approximately 1.30 to 1.60 cents per kWh. The actual charge is similar for all the retailers but does vary, depending on each retailer's cost of purchasing renewable energy certificates. The increase will be particulary noticed by consumers when they finish electricity contracts where the LRET was fixed for the

term of the agreement.

23RD NOVEMBER 2015

A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirms that natural gas will be essential to the world’s energy supply in the future. The annual World Energy Outlook report forecasts that production of natural gas could increase by 47 per cent by 2040. Most of this growth will come from developing unconventional sources such as coal seam gas and shale gas. The IEA also highlights the major economic and environmental benefits of natural gas.

11TH NOVEMBER 2015

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) will undertake the role of independent energy market operator and independent power system operator in Western Australia (WA). The announcement by WA Treasurer and Energy Minister Dr. Mike Nahan will see the transfer of electricity system management and the operation of the wholesale electricity market in the South West of Western Australia to AEMO.

Other functions, previously under the WA Independent Market Operator, including the administration of the Gas Bulletin Board and Gas Statement of Opportunities, will also be transferred to AEMO.

1ST NOVEMBER 2015

Australian Energy Market Operator has issued an update to its annual supply report (formally known as Electricity Statement of Opportunities) due to the recent announcement that Northern Power Station in South Australia will be withdrawn by 31 March 2016.

Major points in the update include:

The earlier withdrawal of Northern Power Station will impact the supply demand balance for SA over the next three years, and increase SA's reliance on wind generation and imports from Victoria. When high demand coincides with low wind generation, plant outages and low levels of imports, SA may experience supply shortfalls.

There is an emerging opportunity for the provision of Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) in SA, especially when there is a credible risk of separation from the National Electricity Market. During these periods of credible risk, AEMO would need to source FCAS locally within SA to manage system security.

2015 National Electricity Forecasting Report (NEFR)

28th July 2015

NEFR was published by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on 18 June 2015. Some key points.

For the first time since 2008/09 electricity consumption in the National Electricity Market (NEM) has stopped its downward trend.

Consumption is forecast to flatten out to 180,390 GWh by the end of 2014/15 and grow by an average of 2.1% per annum over the next three years. This is largely due to liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Queensland and population growth across the NEM.

In addition to LNG, rooftop photovoltaic (PV) has emerged as a key theme in the 2015 NEFR.

Forecast uptake in rooftop PV over the short term set to move the maximum demand times to later in the day in Queensland and Victoria and shift the winter peak in Tasmania to the evening.

South Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop PV in the NEM and the shift to an evening maximum demand peak has already started to occur. One particular day in 2014/15 total demand in SA of 1,235 MW was offset by 445 MW of rooftop PV, resulting in a minimum demand of 790 MW from the grid occurring in the middle of the day.

2015 Gas Statement of Opportunities

1st May 2015

The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2015 Gas Statement of Opportunities (GSOO) forecasts no supply gaps for any of Australia’s eastern and south-eastern gas markets over the short-term to 2019. Lower than forecast consumption levels, most notably in the industrial sector within Queensland and New South Wales, combined with upgrades to gas market infrastructure, have alleviated short-term supply gaps that were initially forecast by AEMO in its previous GSOO update in mid-2014.

Energy White Paper

13th April 2015

The Australian Government released the Energy White Paper on 8 April 2015. The White Paper sets out an energy policy framework for delivering competitively priced and reliable energy supply to households, business and international markets through:

Increasing competition to keep prices down

Increasing energy productivity to promote growth and

Investing in Australia’s energy future.

Nyngan Solar Plant

13th April 2015

AGL and First Solar have opened the first section of the Nyngan Solar Plant in western New South Wales. The plant is now online and feeding renewable energy into the National Electricity Market. Close to 350,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are producing up to 25 MW of electricity. Once complete, the plant will output up to 102 MW, enough to power 33,000 homes per year.

Manufacturing Australia

13th April 2015

Manufacturing Australia has called on politicians to intervene in Australia’s gas market to halt rising prices and help competition. They claim there is a risk of 83,000 manufacturing costs being lost and their call is to increase domestic rivalry to increase supply and reduce gas prices.

SA Royal Commission

18th February 2015

South Australia’s premier, Jay Weatherill, has announced a royal commission will look at the future role South Australia should play in the nuclear industry. At a news conference he said the inquiry would look at SA's involvement in the mining, enrichment, energy and storage phases in the life cycle of nuclear fuel.

State of the Energy Market Report 2014

2nd February 2015

The Australian Energy Regulator has published its state of the energy market report for 2014, highlighting that declining energy demand is bringing structural shifts across the entire industry. The full report can be obtained from the AER website: http://www.aer.gov.au

National Gas Forecasting Report

2nd February 2015

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released its inaugural National Gas Forecasting Report, which highlights substantial changes in Australia’s gas market over the next five years. Queensland’s LNG projects will result in an annual increase of 23% to 2019. Excluding the substantial increase in LNG exports, the report is forecasting a 5.2% decline in domestic gas consumption by 2019.

VEET

2nd February 2015

Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has announced that the Victorian Government will retain the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) scheme. The target for the scheme for 2015 will be 5.4 million Victorian energy efficiency certificates. Each certificate represents a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions that will be avoided. The government will review the scheme in the first half of 2015, with a view to strengthening it further.

Gas Power Generation

18th December 2014

LNG exports which will begin from Gladstone this month will boost total gas consumption by 23% compared to previous years of a 0.7% decline. National gas forecaster has predicted that gas power generation is set to fall 17% a year because of falling consumption and rising gas prices. AEMO Chief Executive said the LPG gas boom was likely to change the domestic gas market forever.

Electricity Generator Closure

17th December 2014

AGL has announced that it will mothball half of Adelaide’s Torrens Island power station in 2017. Four of the gas-fired generating units, known collectively as A-station (480MW), would be taken out of service. The power station has been in operation since the 1960s. The company said the move had been prompted by rising gas prices and an increasing shift to renewable energy; however it said energy supply and power prices would not be affected by the shutdown.

Gas prices to increase

1st September 2014

The independent think tank, the Grattan Institute, has predicted that some households could see their gas bills jump by hundreds of dollars annually as the $60 billion a year export LNG industry takes off. But the institute's report, Gas at the Crossroads, is opposing calls for some gas to be reserved for domestic use, even though it acknowledges that manufacturers will face severe pressure.

The Australian Energy Regulator’s Gas Report for 28 September to 4 October confirms the price in the Brisbane market for that week was only $0.88/GJ, reflecting the gas glut caused by the Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas units not yet being commissioned. For comparison the Victorian price was $3.28/GJ that week but industry experts expect future contract prices to be heading closer to $10/GJ in anticipation of the three LNG plants starting operations.

Savings through the carbon tax repeal

31st July 2014

The federal government repealed the carbon tax on Thursday 17th July 2014 with its application to be backdated to 1 July 2014.

The ACCC has new enforcement powers and an enhanced monitoring role under amendments to the (CCA).

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Suppliers of electricity and natural gas must pass through all cost saving, both direct and indirect.

Above suppliers must provide a carbon tax removal substantiation statement to the ACCC and the statement must be on retailers’ websites until 30 June 2015

Electricity retailers and producers and natural gas retailers should have provided statements for customers identifying the estimated average cost savings for the 2014-15 financial year, by 15/9/14.